Troubleshooting Bug in KF8 firmware for eInk Kindles?

JSWolf · 01-10-2013, 09:35 PM

I may have found a bug in the KF8 firmware on eInk Kindles. The only Kindle I have access to test is the Kindle Touch with the new 5.3.2 firmware.

The bug is that if I use serif as the name in the font-family definition, the Kindle does not display the embedded font. But, if I use a name such as "Charis SIL", then it works fine. Is this a bug or is serif a reserved name and should not be used?

Parody · 01-11-2013, 04:06 PM

There are a few generic font-families that you would normally use as a fallback for whatever specific font you're requesting. "serif" is one of those, along with "sans-serif" and "monospace". Assuming things are the same between KF8 and CSS for the web, "serif" would be an invalid name for a font-family.

You can get more info on this CSS property for the web at W3Schools font-family.

Hope this helps.

Doitsu · 01-11-2013, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The bug is that if I use serif as the name in the font-family definition, the Kindle does not display the embedded font.

Why do you expect the Kindle to display an embedded font, if you use serif as the name of the embedded font? You should know by now that serif, sans-serif, monospace etc. are reserved names for the default serif and sans-serif fonts and shouldn't be used for embedded fonts.

JSWolf · 01-11-2013, 06:01 PM

With ADE, I can redefine the font names serif, sans-serif and monospace. ADE will display the font I've assigned to serif.

What I want to know is if it is a bug that KF8 does not behave that way or is it by design?

pdurrant · 01-13-2013, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I may have found a bug in the KF8 firmware on eInk Kindles. The only Kindle I have access to test is the Kindle Touch with the new 5.3.2 firmware.

The bug is that if I use serif as the name in the font-family definition, the Kindle does not display the embedded font. But, if I use a name such as "Charis SIL", then it works fine. Is this a bug or is serif a reserved name and should not be used?

serif is certainly a keyword value. From here and more specifically:

Quote:

To avoid mistakes in escaping, it is recommended to quote font family names that contain white space, digits, or punctuation characters other than hyphens:

Code:

body { font-family: "New Century Schoolbook", serif }

<BODY STYLE="font-family: '21st Century', fantasy">

Font family names that happen to be the same as a keyword value ('inherit', 'serif', 'sans-serif', 'monospace', 'fantasy', and 'cursive') must be quoted to prevent confusion with the keywords with the same names. The keywords 'initial' and 'default' are reserved for future use and must also be quoted when used as font names. UAs must not consider these keywords as matching the '<family-name>' type.

So if you have defined a font family with the name of serif, when you use it in some CSS you must specify it as 'serif' not serif, as otherwise it will refer to the default serif font, not the font called serif that you have defined.

It is not possible to redefine what font is used for the serif keyword inside a book. That is solely under the control of the rendering engine.

It's possible that a rendering engine might use your font called serif for the default serif font, but that's a rendering-engine specific choice.

In short: No, it's not a bug.

pdurrant · 01-13-2013, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

With ADE, I can redefine the font names serif, sans-serif and monospace. ADE will display the font I've assigned to serif.

What I want to know is if it is a bug that KF8 does not behave that way or is it by design?

If anything, it's a bug that ADE does that, given the 'must' wording in the last sentence of the quote material. However, since the choice of which font to use for the keyword fonts is entirely a rendering engine choice, calling it a bug would be a bit harsh.

JSWolf · 01-13-2013, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

If anything, it's a bug that ADE does that, given the 'must' wording in the last sentence of the quote material. However, since the choice of which font to use for the keyword fonts is entirely a rendering engine choice, calling it a bug would be a bit harsh.

Thank you for your help. I just needed to know if I had to edit some eBooks to change the font name for those I've added embedded fonts to. I'll give "serif" a try and see how that gets on. See if it still allows a T1 to be able to change the font. The reason for using serif was so the T1 can change the font while also being able to render the embedded font. I'll report back once I know more.

As for calling this a bug for KF8, I was basing that on the way ADE performs. That was probably not the best way to do it. But, at least I know it's not a bug in KF8.

01-10-2013, 09:35 PM	#1
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,841 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Bug in KF8 firmware for eInk Kindles? I may have found a bug in the KF8 firmware on eInk Kindles. The only Kindle I have access to test is the Kindle Touch with the new 5.3.2 firmware. The bug is that if I use serif as the name in the font-family definition, the Kindle does not display the embedded font. But, if I use a name such as "Charis SIL", then it works fine. Is this a bug or is serif a reserved name and should not be used?

01-11-2013, 04:06 PM	#2
Parody Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Twin Cities, MN Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Transformer Infinity	Bug in KF8 firmware for eInk Kindles? There are a few generic font-families that you would normally use as a fallback for whatever specific font you're requesting. "serif" is one of those, along with "sans-serif" and "monospace". Assuming things are the same between KF8 and CSS for the web, "serif" would be an invalid name for a font-family. You can get more info on this CSS property for the web at W3Schools font-family. Hope this helps.

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01-11-2013, 06:01 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,841 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	With ADE, I can redefine the font names serif, sans-serif and monospace. ADE will display the font I've assigned to serif. What I want to know is if it is a bug that KF8 does not behave that way or is it by design?